-- Worldwide Ski Resorts - Italy - Bardonecchia --

The town of Bardonecchia is not a particularly pretty, large Alpine town and it gives the impression of having seen better days. It has been selected to host a number of the events in the 2006 Winter Olympics that may result in a number of improvements and upgrades to the facilities.

Standing at a height of 1310 m. Bardonecchia has a relatively good snow record and there are apparently excellent snowmaking facilities on all the links and many of the other slopes. The resort is ideally situated as a base for those skiers and snowboarders who are interested in spending a little time exploring the excellent slopes to be found in the adjacent Milky Way and Serre-Chevalier ski regions and across the French boarder in the Trois Vallees. All are easily reached by car along the main road that runs through the town and the nearby Frejus road tunnel provides a gateway into France.

The resort has a fairly extensive range of accommodation that caters for all budgets and a number of very good restaurants. It tends to be on the quiet side with little or no night life. It is primarily aimed at intermediate skiers of all levels who will find the runs interesting and occasionally challenging. There is little to interest the more advanced skier or snowboarder and the facilities for inexperienced beginners are reasonable with ski schools and nursery slopes at Campo Smith and Melezet. The system of lifts is reported to be ‘antiquated' and there are a lot of drags which makes life a little uncomfortable for snowboarders. On the plus side, the resort tends to be very quiet during the week and only becomes busy during the weekends and public holidays when there is an influx of Italian ‘weekenders` from Turin which is situated only 90 km away.

The slopes above Bardonecchia form two distinct separate areas at side of the main town and can be reached from the centre by a bus transfer that is covered in the cost of the local lift pass. The slopes range from 2750 m at the top down to 1290 m just below the town and there is a total distance of 140 km of pisted runs which are mainly graded as Red and Blue with only a small number of Black runs.

The larger of the two areas is relatively low and is situated on the north facing side of the mountain. The runs are tree lined and the area is convenient to three lift stations providing access to three separate valleys.
The other area is known as the Jafferau and has the higher and longer runs. The snow cover on the west facing slopes in this area can be somewhat patchy, although few problems are likely to be encountered above the mid station level. Snowboarders are catered for by a terrain park with a half pipe.

The town has some good bars and restaurants, but après ski activity is reportedly quiet.